About B4RN

Latest news, the B4RN service is now available in Arkholme, Abbeystead, Aughton, Capernwray, Dolphinholme, Gressingham, Newton, Docker, Littledale, Quernmore, Roeburndale, Wray, Wennington, Tatham, and is now approaching Melling, Whittington and Wrayton. Contact us for more information as the Superfast Lancashire site hasn’t got the details on yet. (nb. we are hyperfast which is well over 100 times faster).

By popular request:

Loan packs available from m.lee@b4rn.org.uk - We have 5 or 10 year loans, both paying good rates of interest.

Share details are on the link at the top of this page. Support your community and reap the benefits in the years to come.

The purpose of the project is to take a new approach to the ownership, financial and deployment models used traditionally, and still proposed by, telecommunications companies. These models invariably leave rural areas outside of the scope of economic viability for the telecoms companies, and have helped to create the Digital Divide between rural and urban Britain. Check the maps of the phases to see if you live in the area we are working in, there are already quite a few properties included in the design just outside the mapping area, so do keep checking.

A new approach is required

There is a firm belief in the business plan projections, which show that a world class, Gigabit, future-proofed, reliable, communications network to every property, without exception, can be profitable in deeply rural areas if approached in a non-traditional and less expensive manner. This is the driving force behind B4RN.

“What Happen$ in the Community $tay$ in the Community” Larry Baumgart The aim is to build a community-owned gigabitFibre To The Home (FTTH) network in the scarcely populated, deeply rural uplands of Lancashire in the north west of England utilising the skills, time, energy and ingenuity of the local residents and businesses.

This project is backed with a share issue for a not-for-profit company registered with the Financial Services Authority under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 using the community benefit option.

Expert Design for the Future

The detailed design and business plan shows that the first phase, including the core network, which will also serve Phases 2 and 3, will cost £1.86 million. This includes the costs associated with:

setting up the company as a telecommunications provider

buying the necessary equipment

training members of the community in fibre installation and fusion splicing (a high tech, in demand skill)

building the network

setting up the necessary administrative and support structures

B4RN is a community fiber network offering fiber to every home, providing 1000 megabit (1 gigabit) futureproof connection for £30 a month. You do not have to buy shares to get a connection, but the more people who invest in this network the faster it will be built with the available funds.

There is no hope for many of us in this area to get ‘superfast’ broadband so we are doing it ourselves. This is not a big company from ‘outside’ doing it, it is us, the rural people of Lancashire.

On the links above you will find lots more information. If you want to download the share form or the register for a connection form they are here:

Update: Our offer of 12 months service and connection free for subscriptions over £1500 has now ended, but will be continued for those who are paying with labour, ie digger shares. Please contact us for details. The offer was extended because digging was held up in the ‘summer’ of 2012 and many people couldn’t get the digging done due to the heavy rain.

If you have already decided to purchase shares then the sooner you do so the sooner implementation will start. We have now raised enough to start the core route, and once the weather bucks up you will see diggers in the fields around your village.

The form to purchase shares can be downloaded, signed and posted to the address on it with a cheque, or you can also pay for your shares by BACS or online banking, but please email us first with your details for a reference number.

This is OUR network, together we can build IT.

Read all the Latest News about B4RN from the links above, check out the growing national and international press interest, and read the letters of support for the project.

Getting Involved

The success of the project will depend on the support and engagement of the community. You can buy shares, subscribe to the service, volunteer your time and skills, offer access to your land, attend the meetings, and help to spread the word with our fliers, posters and stickers.

Route walkers and planners are now being recruited from those who have offered their services. If you can help these people, please contact us and we will put you in touch with the ones in your area.

Timeline

The project has started so NOW is the time!

All updates will be posted into the news feed and in the regular email newsletter so please sign up to stay abreast of developments as they happen. Anyone who has registered for a service will receive the newsletters automatically, as will any investors, optionally. Lots of people post updates and photos into our Facebook page, you don’t have to be a member of facebook to view them.

The B4RN facebook page, full of updates from the community.

B4RN needs you to help spread the word. Marketing materials to help you to promote the project, and to see what has been done so far are available for everyone, whether in Phase 1, 2 or 3, or even further afield who wish to support this innovative project.

The more people hear about this project and become involved, the sooner it can happen for all of us.

External investors are most welcome and can sponsor a local service too.

B4RN has the potential to be the solution for the Final Third of the UK who otherwise will continue to languish in the broadband slow lane. Let’s show others how it can be done!

Donate to B4RN

Sponsor a metre NOW from just £5! Special offer, 5 metres for £20 - click Donate button.